China’s Xu Hong wins gold in her first 3 Positions junior start

20-year-old Xu Hong of the People’s Republic of China made her overall debut in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions Women Junior event, securing the World Championship gold medal in Changwon.

People’s Republic of China’s Xu Hong (20) pocketed the gold medal at the ISSF World Championship in all events in Changwon (KOR).

After trailing the leader by 5.1 points at the end of the prone series, Xu bridged the gap with two fantastic rounds in standing position — where she scored 51.1 and 51.8 points — and locking the 1st place with a consistent series of single shots in the elimination phase.

“I didn’t expect this result since it was my first 3 Positions match,” said Xu, who made her first appearance in this event and closed with 456.6 points. “I will definitely put more effort in this event in the upcoming training, but my main focus will remain on the Air Rifle event.”

Placed 7th after the kneeling position, France’s 17-year-old Jade Bordet climbed up the scoreboard in the prone and standing ones, eventually finishing 2nd with 455.5 points. 20-year-old Maria Ivanova of the Russian Federation completed the podium in 3rd place with 443.2 points.

United States’ Morgan Phillips placed 4th, just outside of the medal positions, with 434.3 points. She was followed by Fatemeh Karamzadeh of the Islamic Republic of Iran — who placed 5th with 420.1 points — and People’s Republic of China’s Zhang Qiaoying — 6th with 409.3.

At the 40th-shot mark, Italy’s Nicole Gabrielli and Switzerland’s Franziska Stark were the first shooters eliminated from the final, respectively finishing in 7th with 399.8 points and 8th with 396.4.

With a collective score of 3474, China secured the team gold medal, followed by the United States of America with a score of 3461. Russian Federation took the team bronze with 3458 points.